... to spread the cement of brotherly love and affection, that cement
which unites us into one sacred band or society of brothers, among whom no
contention should ever exist, but that noble emulation of who can best
work or best agree ...

LECTURE I - THE YORK CONSTITUTIONS

"And after that was a worthy king of England that was callyd Athelstone,
and his
yongest sone lovyd well the sciens of Gemetry, and he wyst well that hand
craft
had the practyke of the sciens of Gemetry so well as Masons, wherefore he
dreive hym to consell and lernyd practyke of that science to his
speculatyf. For of
speculatyf he was a master, and he lovyd well Masonry and Masons. And he
bicom a Mason hymselfe. And he yaf hem charges." - ANCIENT MANUSCRIPT.

"May all Freemasons be enabled to act in strict conformity with the
Constitutions
of their order." - SECTIONAL CHARGE.

THE system of Freemasonry is a literal illustration of our
traditional Grand Master Solomon's remark that "there is nothing
new under the sun." The institution is ancient and unchangeable;
the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever. Its details, indeed, have
been amplified and extended by a judicious application of the
kindred sciences, but its fundamental principles are theoretically
unalterable. And, therefore, although innovations innumerable
have from time to time been superadded to the original system,
yet they have failed to swamp its immoveable basis; and, like a
rock in the midst of a raging sea, though storms and tempests
have for ages beat furiously upon its breast, it still remains in its
pristine integrity to enlighten mankind by the effulgence of its
doctrines and the purity of its humanizing precepts which point the
way to another and a better world. The scions which have been
progressively engrafted on the parent stem for good or evil, have
not detoriated its original principles of pure and unsullied morality.
Their design may be estimable, useful, and praiseworthy, but they
are alien to genuine Freemasonry, and therefore most justly
placed under the cognizance of other governing bodies, that no
blending or spurious admixture may sully the purity of their
symbolical prototype.

I do not, however, pledge myself to establish by documentary
evidence that the Constitutions of Masonry are coeval with the
building of King Solomon's Temple; although Doctor Anderson
asserts that "the fraternity have always had a book, in manuscript,
called the "Book of Constitutions." All we know of them, however,
is, that they existed on the Continent of Europe before the tenth
century, and at that period were pronounced ancient; but it must
be admitted that the precise meaning which our Brethren of such
a remote age attached to the word is somewhat problematical;
and I am unwilling to hazard a positive assertion on that, as on
some other doubtful subjects, unless borne out by undeniable
evidence. Our traditions carry their antiquity to a very remote
period; but as these traditions were transmitted down the stream
of time by oral communication only, it is not improbable but they
shared the fate of all other unwritten testimony; and if
deteriorations became insensibly incorporated with them, some
primitive truths might also be superseded, which would effect
great and organic changes in the historical legend relating to the
antiquity of the Masonic Constitutions.

In order to verify these observations it may be useful to revert to
the primitive York Constitutions, for the purpose of ascertaining
what particular Points or Landmarks were enjoined by competent
authority in the tenth century; and this will clear the way for an
inquiry whether any of them have been encroached on; and, if so,
how far such changes affect the moral and ceremonial status of
the Craft. From a general view of Symbolical Freemasonry it
would appear that the present arrangement was the result of a
grand movement made by Prince Edwin and his confreres at the
above period, during which all its ancient and genuine principles
were brought together and remodelled into one consistent system,
and permanently established by a Royal Charter, which was
granted by King Athelstan to the first English Grand Lodge holden
in the City of York. This portion of Masonic history is affirmed in an
old record dating back as far as the reign of Edward IV., which
testifies that "under the Charter of Athelstan, Prince Edwin
summoned all the Masons in the realm to meet him in a
congregation at York, and there a Grand Lodge was formed, of
which he himself was Grand Master. His colleagues and agents
had, with unparalleled industry, collected in foreign countries all
the writings and records extant; some in Greek, some in Latin,
some in French, and some in other languages; from the contents
of which that assembly framed the Constitutions and Charges,
and made the observance of them penal in all time coming."

This record clearly refers to a revision of the system at that period,
and an adaptation of it to the change of times and the feelings of
men; for the above-mentioned record further informs us that
Prince Edwin "prevailed with the king to improve the Charges and
Constitutions of the English Lodges according to the foreign
model; to increase the wages of working Masons, and grant them
a privilege of correction among themselves to amend what might
happen to be amiss, and to hold a yearly communication and a
general assembly."

These improved Constitutions still exist, and have been recently
discovered amongst the stores in the British Museum, and
published by Mr. Halliwell, from a manuscript which is pronounced
to have been drawn up for the use of Freemasons during the reign
of Athelstan. As, therefore, the revisal of the Ritual was
accomplished by a Christian prince, and for the improvement of an
institution expressly designed for the use of the builders of
Christian churches, we may reasonably suppose that it would not
be destitute of Christian references. And accordingly we find that
these Constitutions blend worldly duty with heavenly aspirations,
and temporal interests with preparations for eternity so intimately
that they cannot be separated without sapping the foundations
and destroying the genuine principles of the institution.

They contain a brief enunciation of certain Landmarks; not, it is
freely admitted, under that express denomination; - nor,
according to their evidence, was the Craft previously called
Freemasonry, but Geometry (which I think the more scientific
name). The committee, however, appear to have then adopted the
present appellation; for it is armed in the body of the document,
that they "cowenterfetyd" or changed its primitive designation, "
and zaf hyt the name of MASONRY," which they pronounce to be
"the moste oneste craft of alle." The word Point is used in a sense
somewhat corresponding with our Landmark. And certain
particulars are made so indispensable to the integrity of the
institution that we cannot reject, on any substantial grounds, the
implicit belief that these Points or Landmarks were intended to be
of perpetual obligation on the fraternity.

The introduction to this most ancient document, which I conceive
to contain the veritable constitutions of the Grand Lodge of York,
holden A.D. 930, (1) gives an account how Euclid undertook to
teach the principles of Masonry to certain young persons, well
born, the lawful offspring of "lodeges," and who were sound and
perfect in body; and directed that they should use no other term
when speaking of or to each other, but that of Brother. The origin
of Masonry is here ascribed to the Egyptians, and introduced into
England in the reign of "the gode kinge Aldelston." It then speaks
of the formation of a Grand Lodge at York, composed of earls,
knights, squires, and "grete barges of that syte," assembled
together for the purpose of drawing up a code of regulations for
the government of the craft. (2) Then follows a clause, which,
under the head of Alia ordinacio artis Gemetrie, provides that a
general assembly shall be held every year with the Grand Master
at its head to enforce the regulations, and to make new laws when
it may be expedient to do so, at which all the Brethren are
competent to be present; and they must renew their O.B. to keep
and observe the statutes and constitutions; and further directs
that, in all ages to come, the existing Grand Lodge shall petition
every new monarch to confer his sanction on their proceedings.

The last division of this important document may be denominated
the moral and scientific lecture, for it contains three hundred lines
of instruction to the Brethren for behaviour in the Lodge during
labour and refreshment - in the Church, where they are directed to
be regular in their prayers to God and the Blessed Virgin through
Jesus Christ, and to conduct themselves in that sacred place with
reverence and devotion. It further gives a definition of the seven
liberal sciences, and recounts various points of duty in the
behaviour of Brothers and Fellows "in halle, yn bowre, and at
horde," including many useful hints which would not be
inapplicable to the Craft in the 19th century.

If such be the design of Freemasonry as it was remodelled eight
hundred years ago, we shall be at no loss to discover the occult
signification of many of its details which would otherwise remain
impenetrably obscure through the alterations in the Charges,
Constitutions, and Lectures, which were effected at the Union in
1814. The ancient Gothic Charges, which have been reproduced
and modernized from time to time, uniformly speak of
T.G.A.O.T.U. as the founder of the Catholic Church (whose
temples the fraternity were then busily employed in erecting), who,
according to the voice of prophecy, was heralded by a blazing
star, proclaimed by John the Baptist, horn at Bethlehem in Judea,
as the "LORD OF LIFE" (still retaining a place in the Third
Lecture), to establish and confirm that primitive faith which is
destined to become the religion of all mankind, including Jew and
Gentile, Greek and barbarian, bond and free, and to cover the
earth as the waters cover the seas.

The laws thus established were secured from alteration by certain
Landmarks; which, as our traditions certify, were pronounced
unchangeable; and the prohibition appears to have been so
strictly maintained, that in many of the later editions of these
constitutions, the laws then established are almost verbally
repeated; and do actually exist - somewhat emasculated I am free
to confess - in the system universally practised at the present day,
and recognized amongst Masons in every country under heaven
by the distinguishing appellation of the York Constitutions, having
been originally drawn up and authorized by the Grand Lodge,
holden in the city of York under the charter of Athelstan already
mentioned, and confirmed at a subsequent meeting of the same
Grand Lodge, when Athelstan had himself assumed the Grand
Mastership of the Craft on the death of his brother.

1. The reasons for thin opinion have been given at large by the author, in
the
American Freemasons' Quarterly Review for 1858.

2. These Regulations are comprised in fifteen
Articles and as many Points; but
they are too long for insertion here. If, however, the reader will turn to
the
above-mentioned periodical, or to p. 64 of the new edition of Preston, he
will find
an abstract of them, the latter being taken from a MS. written in the reign
of
James II, and now in the possession of the Lodge of Antiquity.

LECTURE II
- THE CONSTITUTIONS OF ENGLAND

"The Constitutions of the Order consist of two parts, - oral and written
communications;
the former, comprehending the mysteries of the art, are only to be acquired
by practice
and experience in the Lodge; the latter includes the history of genuine Masonry,
the lives
and characters of its patrons, and the ancient charges and general regulations
of the Craft.
- PRESTON.

"The ancient Constitutions and Landmarks of the Order were not made by us. We
have
voluntarily put ourselves under them, as have our predecessors for ages before
us. As
they are, we must conform to them, or leave the Institution; but we cannot alter
them. The
Regulations of the Grand Lodge, which are made by ourselves, must be in
conformity
with the Constitutions of the Order." - ADDRESS OF THE GRAND MASTER OF NEW
YORK, 1843.

FREEMASONRY at the present day bears the character of a
municipal institution, for it regulates its internal interests by its
own laws. Now the true principle of a municipality is the privilege
of enjoying unfettered discretion within its legal boundaries; for if
any society of men possess the exclusive power of managing their
own affairs, the privilege is usually accompanied by such
conditions as may be essential to its successful execution. One of
these conditions undoubtedly is; that if the rulers strictly adhere to
the Constitutions the members of the society will profit, but if they
violate them by the slightest deviation, the members will surely
suffer; for perfect liberty cannot exist without responsibility; in the
absence of which it will be impossible either to stimulate diligence
or to enforce the exercise of wholesome criticism and judicious
inquiry.

The Order possesses a local and municipal government under the
protection of the State. The due execution of its laws, founded on a
steady principle of responsibility in its rulers, has invested the
Order with its present proud position amongst the institutions of
the world; and the uniform obedience of the Brethren to its statutes
and ordinances constitutes a powerful evidence how abundantly a
democratic society may flourish, even under the auspices of a
limited monarchy. This tranquil subserviency to the law constitutes
the abiding boast of the Masonic Association, and shows how
admirably adapted to its requirements are the general Constitutions
of the Order.

These Constitutions are of two kinds; viz., first, local or temporary,
and subject to revision by the Grand Lodge when any
extraordinary circumstances arise to justify such a proceeding,
conformably to a regulation agreed to at York in the tenth century,
which directs that "A General Assembly shall be held every year,
with the Grand Master at its head, to enforce the regulations and to
make new laws when it may be expedient to do so." In this class
may be ranked the laws relating to complaints and misdemeanours,
the amount of fees and subscriptions; the interval between the
degrees, the several funds, charities, and Boards, &c., &c., all of
which may be changed at pleasure by a vote of the Grand Lodge.
These are not strictly Landmarks.

But the second class of laws are undoubted Landmarks which
admit of no alteration, and ought to be preserved intact to prevent
innovations in the identity of the ancient Order. For instance, if a
candidate were to be admitted into a Lodge without a dispensation
before he had attained the age of one and twenty years, it would be
a violation of the Constitutions, for which the W. Master would be
amenable to punishment by the Board of General Purposes. The
same offence would be perpetrated if the candidate were admitted
by communication and without the usual ritual preparation or O.B.
These general Constitutions, unlike the former class, prevail under
the jurisdiction of every Grand Lodge in the world, and are
allowed by universal consent to be unchangeable; and hence it is
by the use of these significant tokens that the Order has passed
through so many generations unscathed by persecution, and has
preserved its pristine integrity unshaken amidst all the reverses of
alternate prosperity and neglect.

The method of transmitting important facts and doctrines by oral
communication is, to say the least of it, very uncertain and
imperfect. The marvel is not, as Bro. Yates (U.S.) truly observes,
"nor should be, that inconsistencies, and, I may say, seeming
absurdities have become mixed up with the traditions of Masonry,
but that there should be no more of them; when we reflect that
these traditions have been handed down orally through so many
generations." And, he might have added, that it is still more
wonderful that, under such circumstances, we have a single grain
of truth left to uphold the dignity and integrity of the institution.

LECTURE III - THE LANDMARKS

"In the Grand Lodge resides the power of making Laws and Regulations for the
government of the Craft, and of altering, repealing, and abrogating them,
provided that they continue to preserve the ancient Landmarks of the
Order." -
CONSTITUTIONS.

"It is my opinion that so long as the Master of any Lodge observes exactly
the
Landmarks of the Craft, be is at liberty to give the Lectures in the
language best
suited to the character of the Lodge over which he presides. "- H.R.H. THE
DUKE OF SUSSEX, G.M.

IN order to ascertain what is the real tendency and end of
Freemasonry, it will be necessary to clear the way by a brief
examination of the Landmarks, which denote certain standard
principles in the general laws, usages, customs, and language of
the Order, and were originally established by our ancient Brethren
to preserve its identity, and prevent innovation. It has ever been
considered essential to the integrity of Masonry that they should
remain intact, because, if its leading tenets were subject to
periodical changes at the will and pleasure of the Fraternity in
every successive generation, its distinctive character, in process
of time, might perchance be destroyed; in which case the
institution would be denuded of all its fixed and determinate
principles. It was fenced round with Landmarks, therefore, to
preserve its integrity, and prevent the introduction of unauthorized
novelties, which would affect its peculiar claims to consideration in
the eye of the world.

In a disquisition on the rise and progress of Freemasonry, it is
usual to trace it by means of certain presumed Landmarks through
the dark ages, including the patriarchal and Mosaic dispensations,
particularizing the era of the Dionysiacs, who built the Temple of
Solomon, and the Collegiae Fabiorum, both of which were strictly
operative; and after noticing the establishment of a Speculative
Grand Lodge at York in the tenth century, the theorists proceed to
the presumed institution of what is termed on the Continent of
Europe the rite of Ecossais, or the Order of H.R.D.M., the origin of
which, from tolerably correct evidence, is assigned to King Robert
Bruce, as the consummation of the battle of Bannock Burn, which
was fought on St. John's Day, 1314. In the course of this inquiry
the fable of Osiris and other practices of the heathen mysteries
are incidentally mentioned, together with the traditional period
when religious rites were first introduced as a speculative feature
in the operative Craft.

The genuine Landmarks of Masonry, however, are of a different
character, and are susceptible of division into twelve distinct
classes, which may be arranged under the following heads: -

1.
ELEMENTARY; as in the opening and closing, the preparation
and admission of a candidate, the ballot, &c.

2. INDUCTIVE; as in
the badge, meeting and parting, the qualification questions, &c.

3.
RITUAL; as in the floor and covering of the Lodge, the when and
where, the ornaments, furniture, and jewels, labour and
refreshment, the porch, dormer, and stone pavement of the
Temple, &c.

4. PERSONAL; as the signs, words, and tokens, the
principal point, hele and conceal, of, at, and on, the working tools,
&C.

5. LANDMARKS CONNECTED WITH THE CARDINAL
POINTS; as the form, extent, and situation of the Lodge, the
pillars, the lesser lights, the deiseal, hailing from Jerusalem, &c.

7. HISTORICAL; as the alliance of Solomon and
Hiram, the building of the Temple, Jacob's vision, the deliverance
from Egyptian bondage, passing the Red Sea, wandering in the
wilderness, crossing the Jordan, &c.

8. TYPICAL; as the legend of
the Third Degree, darkness visible, the Shekinah, the Cherubins,
&c.

9. DOCTRINAL; as the qualifications of the W. M., oral
communication, &c.

10. PRACTICAL; as in the powers of a Grand
Lodge, the O.B., moral duties, &c.

11. OBSOLETE; as free by
birth, Abraham and Hagar, illegitimacy, the fixed lights, age of a
candidate, the original parallels (according to the English system),
H. XII. &c.; and

12. SPURIOUS; as the facultie of Abrac, the
Preadamites, the cost of the Temple, the amount of wages paid to
the workmen, the precious stones in the foundation, &c. Under
such a classification a Landmark may be recognized with tolerable
accuracy.

The strict inviolability of a Landmark is somewhat problematical.
There are certain obsolete particulars in Masonry which were
formerly esteemed to be Landmarks, but have undergone
alterations in a greater or lesser degree. It follows, therefore, that
if the old Landmarks cannot, by any possibility, be removed, then
we incur the unavoidable conclusion that these never had a claim
to any such distinction. In all existing Constitutions, however, there
is a prohibitory clause which pronounces the Landmarks, like the
laws of the Medes and Persians, to be unchangeable; (1) but we
shall find that in practice it has been occasionally violated, and
therefore inapplicable to all the contingencies that may arise in
practice.

To persist, then, in asserting that the Landmark cannot be altered,
with an array of positive facts against the hypothesis, is
indefensible and absurd, because it places the society in a false
position. It is well known, that whenever it has been found
expedient to expunge a Landmark, the means of accomplishment
were never wanting. The letter of the law is stern, but the spirit is
feeble. Practice is more than a match for it, and beats it on its own
ground. Salus populi suprema est lex.

Now, before I proceed it must be distinctly understood that I
neither justify nor condemn the practice of modifying a Landmark
to meet a new condition of society; my intention is merely to
record historical truth. The question resolves itself into a matter of
expediency, of which however the policy is somewhat doubtful;
because if that be a sufficient pretext for the renunciation of a
single Landmark, who knows but our successors in the course of
a very few ages may witness the abolition of them all on a similar
plea? The restrictive law of Landmark bears some resemblance to
the fiction that the Pope has no authority or jurisdiction in these
realms, which, de jure, is correct enough; but yet everybody
knows that he regularly exercises both with perfect impunity, by
the appointment of cardinals, legates, and bishops; and in effect
he allows no important ecclesiastical affairs to be transacted in the
United Kingdom without his approbation and consent.

The true state of the case is, that in the actual business of
Freemasonry, as it is now understood and practised by the whole
Masonic community in all parts of the world, progress is the text,
and improvement the commentary. The Grand Lodge, like the
British Parliament, is all powerful; for it is a representative
institution in which every Brother is present by delegates elected
by himself, and there is consequently no appeal against its
decisions, even if a majority were to agree on a general sweep
from the system of every existing Landmark, whether of ancient or
modern imposition. Other Masonic communities might protest
against the innovation, but the English Fraternity would be utterly
powerless either to prevent it or to apply a remedy. It is true such
a comprehensive measure is very unlikely to occur; yet it cannot
be denied that the Landmarks appear to be considered merely as
a series of arbitrary boundary lines, which, when they obstruct the
ever-flowing current of progress, are to be levelled in detail, if
expediency suggests the necessity of their removal. And so they
might disappear, and become obsolete one by one, till the
Fraternity of, another generation would forget that they ever
existed.

General laws, as I have already had occasion to observe, are
inviolable, and reputed in theory to constitute impervious
Landmarks, because they enforce the observance of some moral
virtue, while particular and local laws admit of alteration and
revision when necessary; but if, in carrying out these principles,
any Grand Lodge for the sake of expediency does actually
proceed to the ultima Thule of removing one Landmark and
altering another at its own will and pleasure, why retain a
prohibition on the Masonic Statute Book, which may thus be
violated with impunity whenever a majority shall so ordain? A
great deal might be said on this subject if it were necessary; but I
have some doubts as to the propriety of entering on a field of
argument when the object of these Lectures is simply to make a
plain statement of facts as they are connected with the existing
system of practice. It is a general opinion amongst the Craft that in
the present state of Masonic progress, it ought not to be impeded
by hypothetical obstructions; and many worthy Brethren contend
that the Order would be benefited by a free and ample discussion
of first principles, unshackled by imaginary precedence in any
possible form. "Let it once be understood what are Landmarks and
what are not," they say, "and all objections will be for ever
silenced. But until some such general agreement amongst the
several Grand Lodges of the world be accomplished, we are
grovelling in darkness, and all our boasted accessions of light are
no better than the glimmerings of reason compared with the full
blaze of divine revelation."

If there be anomalies, these Brethren urge, let them be swept
away; but to persist with such pertinacity from age to age in the
fiction that Landmarks are unalterable, with certain irrefragable
facts before us to repudiate the assertion, is unworthy of a great
institution. We live in an age of reform, and if there be anything in
Freemasonry that needs excision, the sooner the Grand Lodge
take the bull by the horns the better. Malus uses abolendus est.
H.R.H. the late Grand Master, whose authority on this subject will
scarcely be questioned by any living Mason, contended that
"obedience, however vigorously observed, does not prevent us
from investigating the inconvenience of laws which at the time
they were framed may have been prudent, and even necessary;
but now, from a total change of circumstances and events, may
have become unjust, oppressive, and useless. Justinian declares
that he violates the law who, confining himself to the, letter, acts
contrary to the spirit of it."

If the above reasoning be sound, these conclusions will be clearly
deducible from it. Freemasonry is evidently in a state of transition.
If what are usually esteemed Landmarks offer an obstacle to its
onward progress; if they clog and imperil the institution, or apply
solely to another phase of society, there is no valid reason, in the
opinion of the late Grand Master, why they should not give way
when the interests of the Craft require it. And it is evident that the
Fraternity in the last century entertained a somewhat similar
opinion. It will not do to be continually tinkering; stopping one hole
and making two. A comprehensive scheme of reform is of more
value than a thousand pieces of patchwork. Let the question be
settled at once and for ever. Either wholly draw aside the veil or let
it not be touched. Name the Landmarks that are unalterable, and
make it penal to violate them; and then it may be truly said, that " it
is not in the power of any man or body of men to make any
alteration or innovation in the, body of Masonry." In such case we
may have some chance of avoiding litigation, for our own time at
least.

FOOTNOTE

1.
But the question is, in what sense we are to understand the immutability
of
these ancient laws. Dr. Clark has a judicious observation, which I quote, as
bearing in some degree on the subject under discussion. "I do not think," he
observes, "that this law is to be understood so as to imply that whatever
laws or
ordinances the Medes and Persians once enacted, they never changed them.
This would argue extreme folly in legislators in any country. Nothing more
appears to be meant than that the decree should be enacted, written, and
registered according to the legal. forms among the Medes and Persians; and
this
one to be made absolute for thirty days. The laws were such among this people
that, when once passed with the usual formalities, the king could not change
them at his owns will. This is the utmost that can be meant by the law of the
Medes and Persians that could not be changed." If we substitute Grand Master
for king, this may, perhaps, be the utmost latitude which the Grand Lodge of
England assigns to the word "unalterable," as applied to the Landmarks of
Masonry.

LECTURE IV - SPURIOUS LANDMARKS

"The sciences in which the Arabs made original discoveries,
and in which, neat after the Greeks, they have been the
instructors of the moderns, were mathematics, astronomy,
astrology, medicine, materia medics, and chemistry. Now, it
is very possible that from the Arabs may have originally
proceeded the conceit of physical mysteries without the aid
of magic, such as the art of gold-making, the invention of a
panacea, the philosopher's atone, and other chimæras of
alchemy which afterwards haunted the heads of the
Rosicrucians and the elder Freemasons." -DE QUINCEY.

"That in Freemasonry there is neither magic, theurgic, nor
theosophy, is well known to every brother; but, alas! there is
too much reason to believe that in former ages these
vagaries of the mind were thought to be found amongst us.
Under the hieroglyphics of our royal art many have sought
for that secret which, like the possession of Solomon's seal,
would enable them to govern the world of spirits." -
GADICKE.

OUR continental Brethren in the eighteenth century were
disposed to reject the hypothesis which traces Freemasonry
as a science back to the building of King Solomon's Temple.
And I think they were correct in principle, although they
erroneously endeavoured to substantiate their opinions by
the use of a series of spurious Landmarks which had no
existence but in their own imagination. With this end in view
they contended that its pristine design, as a mediaeval
institution of no higher antiquity than the advent of the Stuart
family in England, was to further the purpose of the
Rosicrucians, and to regenerate the world by means of the
philosopher's stone and the elixir of life, which constituted
the visionary Landmarks on which the theory was founded.

They also taught that in furtherance of this plan, a few
learned Englishmen embraced the doctrine promulgated by
Lord Bacon in his new Atlantis, in which he assumed that a
certain monarch built a magnificent edifice at Bensalem
(Jerusalem), which he called Solomon's Temple, and formed
themselves into an exclusive society for the purpose of
following out the principle, which was the origin of the Royal
Society. That, in addition to this, another institution was at
length established for a similar purpose, which differed
essentially from the former, and consisted principally of men
who expected to attain a knowledge of the occult secrets of
nature by alchemical operations; amongst whom were Elias
Ashmole, Lily, and others, who had some preliminary
meetings at Warrington, on the pretence of reconstructing, in
a symbolical manner, Bacon's visionary Temple of Solomon.
For this purpose they erected a pair of emblematical pillars,
which they called the pillars of Hermes, and thence
advancing by a ladder of seven steps to a chequered
pavement, they exhibited symbols of the creation, the
secrets of which it was their aim and purpose to fathom.

To conceal their mysterious meetings they procured
admission into the Masons' company in London, and
assumed the denomination of Freemasons, and adopted the
implements of operative labour as their chief symbols. And,
as most of its members were strongly opposed to the
principles of Puritanism, their meetings, though ostensibly
intended for scientific investigations, were secretly directed
to the purpose of restoring Charles II. to the throne of
England after the execution of his father. With a further view
to secrecy they assumed the denomination of SONS OF A
BEREFT WIFE, in allusion to the widowed queen; bewailed
the death of their murdered master, and adopted a sign of
recognition to commemorate that tragical occurrence. They
further sought for the recovery of a LOST WORD, meaning
the legitimate title of king, then lost to the nation. At a later
period, as their histories tell us, the character of the
institution underwent a radical change by the intervention of
Sir Christopher Wren, and assumed its present position of
morality, charity, and truth. (1)

It will be unnecessary to comment on this absurd attempt to
explain the origin and design of Freemasonry by a reference
to any political movement, although it undoubtedly
constituted the specious will-o'-the-wisp by which many
well-intentioned antimasons have been misled, and induced
to ascribe the invention of Masonry to the Rosicrucians,
instead of the Cyclopean builders of antiquity and their
successors, the FREE AND MASTER MASONS, who
erected those superb monuments of high art, - the churches
and cathedrals of the mediæval era.

From the above hypothesis originated that spurious Masonic
figment, called " The Facultie of Abrac," which is traditionally
asserted to be a veritable Landmark of ancient Masonry.
Professor Robison, in his Proofs, connects Freemasonry
with the schisms in the Christian Church at the beginning of
the last century; and truly asserts that the Jesuits, into
whose hands it had fallen at that period, used it as a
convenient engine for the furtherance of their designs, and to
maintain their secret influence in society; for which purpose
they altered the Landmarks and introduced many
innovations, both in the letter and spirit of the Institution. It
was further disturbed by the mystical dreams of Jacob
Behmen, and Swedenborg; by the fanatical doctrines of
Pascal, Pernetti, Knigge, and a host of Continental
reformers; by magicians, magnetizers, and exorcists, of
whom Mesmer and Cagliostro were the types: all of whom
pretended to understand the mysterious facultie of Abrac.

A few years later the court of Rome found it their interest to
denounce Freemasonry; and a papal edict, which was
issued in 1739, accused and condemned the brotherhood for
practising "occult secrets and forbidden arts;" referring to the
spurious Landmarks just mentioned, which were partly
introduced by themselves: - "the search for a universal
menstruum to convert the baser metals into gold; together
with the elixir of life and the philosopher's stone;" (2) as if
the papacy was determined that none but priests of their
own hierarchy should pursue the study of science or the
practice of natural philosophy. And it appears rather
unaccountable that even if some of the fraternity, in an age
of ignorance and superstition, did exhibit a propensity to
trace the secrets of nature to their source, which is by no
means improbable, the order should have been denounced
and proscribed by those very ecclesiastical authorities who
themselves, according to competent evidence, pretended to
perform miraculous acts that exceed the ordinary power of
nature or the faculties of uninspired men. I am ready to admit
that the primitive, Masons (although they never claimed such
miraculous attainments, yet), by reason of their marvellous
productions in the science of architecture, were thought by
the ignorant world to possess supernatural powers. Nor is it
surprising that they should have adopted that mistaken
opinion, for it is analogous to the experience of all ages.
"There was a time," says the eloquent Bishop Watson, in his
answer to Gibbon, "when no one was acquainted with the
laws of magnetism, which suspend in many instances the
laws of gravitation; nor can I see, upon the principle in
question, how the rest of mankind could have credited the
testimony of their first discoverer, and yet to have rejected it
would have been to reject the truth."

Our worthy Brother Preston appears to have been a believer
in the mystical attainments of our ancient brethren. In his
observations on Locke's commentary on an ancient Masonic
manuscript, he says, "His being in the dark concerning the
meaning of the facultie of Abrac, I am not surprised at, nor
can I conceive how he could otherwise be. Abrac is an
abbreviation of the word Abracadabra. In the days of
ignorance and superstition that word had a magical
signification, but the explanation of it is now lost. Our
celebrated annotator has taken notice of the Masons having
the art of working miracles and foresaying things to come.
But this was certainly not the least important of their
doctrines; hence astrology was admitted as one of the arts
which they taught; and the study of it was warmly
recommended in former times."

FOOTNOTES

1. See more of this in the Freemasons' Magazine for
December, 1853.

2. An old Masonic manuscript ritual in my possession
contains this curious question, - "How do you explain the
philosopher's stone?" - which is thus curiously answered: -
"Adam, when in Paradise, was filled with the holy spirit of
God; but, by transgressing the divine command, he lost that
essence, and the substitute was to walk in God's anger and
wrath; yet God, in his mercy, in order to restore that
essence, became man, that be might bring us again into the
Sanctum Sanctorum. Thus the second Adam was the
philosopher's stone that Adam lost, and it can only be found
by those who are regenerated by his spirit." I believe,
however, that this illustration is an extract from some of the
Theosophic Lectures which were used on the continent of
Europe in the last century.

LECTURE V - THE ANCIENT CHARGES

"St. Alban loved Masons well, and cherished them
much. He obtained of the king a charter, enabling
them to hold a general council, and gave it the name
of assembly, and was thereat himself as Grand Master,
and helped to make Masons, and gave them good
charges and regulations." – ANCIENT RECORD.

"Although the ancient records of the Brotherhood in
England were many of them destroyed or lost in the
wars of the Saxons and Danes, yet King Athelatan
encouraged many Masons from France, who brought with
them the charges and regulations of the Lodges
preserved since the Roman times." - OLD
CONSTITUTIONS.

IT is a question of great importance whether any of
those articles and points which were promulgated in
the tenth century by a Grand Convention of Masons,
holden in the city of York, have been repealed,
mitigated, or extinguished in modem times with the
concurrence of any Grand Lodge; and whether the
judicious pruning of a Landmark to meet the
exigencies of modern progress, is to be considered a
breach of the prohibitory law which forbids its
entire abrogation.

The fiction about the unalterable character of the
Landmarks appears, in some respects, to be of a
similar nature to that which was urged in the British
House of Commons, before Sir C. Cresswell's mission
commenced, respecting the indissolubility of
marriage, although every speaker on both sides knew
very well that it was not a sound proposition,
because instances of divorce were even then not
uncommon, and have been so from time immemorial. In
like manner the Landmarks of Masonry in theory are
pronounced unalterable, while in practice some of
them have been changed or abrogated at various
periods, if their claims to the honour of being bonâ
fide Landmarks can be satisfactorily established. It
is, however, doubtful whether there be a single
Landmark in Masonry of any importance that would
not, on an urgent emergency, be willingly repudiated
by some of our Brethren to serve a temporary
purpose; because on every occasion when the
mitigation of a Landmark has been proposed to meet
the increasing intelligence of the times, individual
Brethren have facilitated the movement, as we have
seen in our third Lecture, by ignoring its claims to
such a distinction. The adversaries of Masonry
dogmatically assert as a well-established fact, that
very considerable alterations have taken place in
the Landmarks at different periods. "The Masonic
orders," according to the testimony of De Quincey,
"were not originally at all points what they are now;
they have passed through many changes and
modifications; and no inconsiderable part of their
symbolic system, &c. has been the product of
succeeding generations."

The question, therefore, presents itself to our
notice, whether any of the Landmarks of the order
have been infringed and become obsolete, as this
writer imagines. This will form a prominent subject
of discussion in some future lecture, and I shall
carefully, examine the evidences pro and con, and
endeavour to solve the problem on the surest and
most irrefragable testimony, viz., a reference to
facts which admit of neither contradiction nor
dispute. At present I shall call your attention
solely to the ancient Gothic Charges, which are
designated as permanent Landmarks by Desaguliers,
Anderson, Sayer, Payne, and the worthies who formed
the first Grand Lodge, and brought about the revival
of Masonry at the beginning of the last century. To
preserve their integrity unimpaired by keeping them
constantly before the fraternal eye, it was strictly
enjoined that they should be rehearsed at the
Installation of every Master, and that he should be
required to give his unfeigned consent to them
without hesitation, mental reservation, or self-
evasion of mind. The question then is, Have these
Charges sustained any alteration?

The following comparison will answer the inquiry

Extracts from the Ancient Charges, A.D. 1723.

I. Although in ancient times Masons were charged in
every country to be of the religion of that country
or nation, whatever it was, yet it is now thought
more expedient only to oblige them to that religion
in which all men agree, leaving their particular
opinions to themselves; that is, to be good men and
true, or men of honour and honesty, by whatever
denominations or persuasions they may be
distinguished.

II. A Mason is a peaceable subject, never to be
concerned in plots against the state, nor
disrespectful to inferior magistrates. Of old,
kings, princes, and states encouraged the fraternity
for their loyalty, who ever flourished most in times
of peace. But, though a Brother is not to be
countenanced in his rebellion, against the state,
yet, if convicted of no other crime, his relation to
the Lodge remains indefeasible.

III. A duly-organized
body of Masons is called a Lodge, just as the word
church is expressed both of the congregation and the
place of worship. The men made Masons must be free-
born, no bondmen, of mature age and good report,
hale and sound, not deformed, nor dismembered at the
time of their making. No woman, no eunuch.

V. Free and accepted Masons shall not allow cowans to
work with them, nor shall they be employed by cowans
without an urgent necessity; and even in that case
they must not teach cowans, but have a separate
communication.

Extracts from the Ancient Charges, as inserted in our
present Book of Constitutions, A.D. 1856.

I. A Mason, of all men, should beat understand that
God seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh at the
outward appearance, but God looketh at the heart. A
Mason is, therefore, particularly bound never to act
against the dictates of his conscience. Let a man's
religion or mode of worship be what it may, be is
not excluded from the Order, provided he believe in
the G.A.O.T.U., and practise the sacred duties of
morality.

II. A Mason is a peaceable subject to the civil
powers where he resides or works, and is never to be
concerned in plots or conspiracies against the peace
and welfare of the nation, nor to behave himself
undutifully to inferior magistrates. He is cheerfully
to conform to every lawful authority; to hold on
every occasion the interest of the community, and
zealously promote the prosperity of his own country.

III. Every regular assembly or duly-organized meeting
of Masons is called a Lodge. The persons made
Masons, or admitted members of a Lodge, must be good
and true men, free-born, of mature and discreet age
and sound judgment, no bondmen, no women, no immoral
or scandalous men, but of good report.

V. Freemasons shall not work with those who are not
free without an urgent necessity; nor shall they
teach labourers or unaccepted Masons as they would
teach a Brother or Fellow.

In these passages (and others of a similar nature
might have been added) the alterations speak for
themselves, and require no comment. And it may be
further observed that, even so early as the revival,
an alteration of the Landmarks was publicly
announced in these express terms: "In ancient times
the Christian Masons were charged to comply with the
Christian usages of each country where they travelled
or worked. But Masons being found in all nations,
even of divers religions, they are now only charged
to adhere to that religion in which all men agree,"
&c. This revision has not only been acceded to by
all successive Grand Lodges, but the concluding
clause of the fourth charge - "that no number
without three Master Masons can form a Lodge," which
is in itself an important Landmark, has been
entirely expunged. Again, the old charge, vi. 1,
says, "As Masons, we are of the oldest catholic
religion," &c.; this also has been omitted. And,
lastly, not to be tedious on this point, the time of
the annual festival has been changed from St.
John's-day, as enjoined by the old Constitutions, to
that of St. George, and by it the annual
communication is now governed.

Now, whether these alterations be improvements or not
forms no part of the present inquiry, which relates
solely to a question of fact; and rests upon the
postulatum already mentioned - whether such
corrections be admissible under the clause which
prohibits any alteration of Landmarks. The truth is,
that how pleasing soever the doctrine of irremovable
Landmarks may sound in theory, it is not borne out by
practice; nor can it be, amidst the ever-varying
changes in manners and customs, and improvements in
science and arts; for Freemasonry, to hold its own,
must keep pace with the progress of other
institutions; and this can scarcely be accomplished
without the occasional pruning of antiquated
observances to meet the requirements of an altered
state of society. For which purpose I shall refer
you, in the following Lectures, to the usage of
successive Grand Lodges, which have resorted to it
under urgent circumstances, not merely in isolated
and exceptional instances, but as a general principle
and an unquestionable right. In all inquiries it is
wise to look Truth steadily in the face; for what
benefit can be derived from an argument, if the
attainment of truth be not its object and end? And it
cannot be denied that several instances have occurred
between the year 1717 and the present time in which
old Landmarks have been ameliorated by Grand Lodges
when any pressing necessity presented itself in
favour of the change.

LECTURE VI - THE TRIADS

"The number three was an object of great veneration both to the Greeks and
Latins, as is evidenced by Theocritus, Ovid, and Virgil. Whether this fancy
owes
its original to this number including a beginning, middle, and end, and thus
signifying all things in the world; or whether to the esteem the
Pythagoreans and
other philosophers had for it, on account of their Triad, or Trinity; or to
its aptness
to signify the power of all the gods, who were divided into three classes,
celestial,
terrestrial, and infernal, - I shall leave to be determined by others." - DR.
ANDERSON.

"The reason why Freemasons accompany their toasts with three times three is,
because there were anciently but three words, three signs, and three
grips." -
GERMAN LECTURE.

THE origin of the Triad must be sought for in the remotest period
of time. We find it existing at the deliverance from Egyptian
bondage; for the Rabbins affirm that the appearance of Jehovah
to Moses at the Burning Bush - JEKARAH, MEMRA, SHERINAH,
or Glory, Word, Majesty, - was an exemplification of it; and,
accordingly, this remarkable event has been embodied in Masonry
along with the creation of the world, where the Triad was first
exhibited. The ternary number, therefore, is as old as the hills;
and, though extensively applied in the system of Freemasonry, the
reasons for its adoption are very inadequately explained in the
ritual. I shall, therefore, endeavour, in this Lecture, briefly to
supply the deficiency. In whatever part of the ancient world we
pursue our researches, we find all nations in possession of a
Triad, which was usually applied to the sacred object. of their
worship. No matter how widely they were separated from each
other, - whether settled in Egypt or Ethiopa on the west, China
and Japan in the opposite quarter; whether Britain, Scandinavia,
or the deserts of Siberia northward, Hindoostan on the south, or
amongst the North American Indians, or in Mexico and Peru in the
New World, - all used the mysterious Tanga tanga, or three in
one, as applied to the Great Creator.

Mankind in all these regions were equally descended from the
migrating tribes which departed simultaneously from Shinar to
avoid the inconveniences resulting from a diversity of language,
and spread themselves over the face of the globe in search of
settlements which were congenial to their habits. Now, as any
communication between distant tribes was physically impossible
in these early times, when artificial conveyances by land or water
were unknown, and the interminable forests swarmed with wild
and savage beasts, how does it happen that the seventy nations
into which ancient testimony divides the primitive world, in
accordance with their diversity of dialect, should have exhibited
such a uniform identity of thought as to fix on precisely the same
number, and not only apply it exclusively to sacred purposes, but
also invest it with the desirable attribute of good fortune? It could
only have arisen from some principle which was familiar to their
ancestors before the planting of nations commenced.

The first system of notation used by the aboriginal inhabitants of
all nations was by counting their fingers; and, therefore, if any
particular number had been required for an exceptional purpose, it
would doubtless have been either five or ten, for preserving a
uniformity of enumeration. It is true there were some exceptions to
this rule. Aristotle informs us that even in his time there was a
nation in Thrace which knew no other arithmetic but the
quaternary; and M. Condamine remarks that the Yamsos could
only count to three; and in Brasil the people used the Portuguese
language to express all numbers above the triad. These
exceptions, however, do not solve our problem.

The most reasonable method of accounting for this singular
peculiarity will be to revert to the first ages after the flood, when
the gregarious descendants of Noah fed their flocks and herds on
the same pastures; and though, as population increased, they
would be widely spread, as we know they were, yet they still
occupied the same region, spoke the same language, practised
the same religion, and used the same social customs.

Before any migrations were contemplated the immediate posterity
of Noah and his sons lived together on the banks of the
Euphrates, and, as is highly probable, commemorated the fearful
catastrophe of the deluge by an annual festival. In process of time,
mankind began to entertain a veneration for their arkite ancestors,
which was speedily converted into gross idolatry, and blended
with the antediluvian worship of the Host of Heaven. "As all
mankind proceeded from the three families of which the patriarch
Noah was the head, we find this circumstance continually alluded
to by the ancient mythologists. And the three persons who first
constituted those families were looked upon both as deities and
kings, and termed the ROYAL TRIAD." (1) Thus the triple
offspring of the diluvian patriarch became a divine Triad,
resolvable into the monad Noah, or the Sun, at its three
remarkable phases of rising, southing, and setting.

Here we have a legitimate account how the veneration for a Triad
existed amongst the descendants of Noah; and which, after the
confusion of tongues and consequent dispersion from Shinar,
permeated every tribe of the erratic builders of Babel, who fled
from the face of Jehovah to seek for refuge in distant regions of
the earth. The idea, however, was not original, but was evidently
derived from some well-known tradition existing in the antediluvian
world; for which we can account in no other way than by
supposing it was communicated to Adam in Paradise by divine
revelation before he transgressed and forfeited the protection of
the Most High. And, therefore, the revivalists of our Order,
Anderson, Desaguliers, and others, who traced the history of
Masonry to the creation of the world (for which, indeed, they had
several precedents in Masonic manuscripts preserved in the
British Museum, which were written hundreds of years before their
time), interwove the principle of the Triad into the system, as it
formed a constituent element in every ancient institution that
existed in any part of the world.

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